ARRL January VHF Contest - 2020
Call: N6NB
Operator(s): N6NB
Station: N6NB
Class: Rover LP
QTH:
Operating Time (hrs):
Summary:
Band QSOs Mults
-------------------
6:
2:
222:
432:
903:
1.2:
2.3:
3.4:
5.7:
10G:
24G:
-------------------
Total: 490 120 Total Score = 293,520
Club: Southern California Contest Club
Comments:
This is about roving in the January, 2020 VHF Contest, but it's really about
more than that.
I'm thankful for many things on this day after the rove. After reading
descriptions of the ice, snow, freezing rain and high winds in the east, I'm
thankful for the good weather we had in Califonia. The daytime highs were in
the 50s and 60s, with overnight lows in the high 30s and 40s. There was no
rain, let alone snow.
I'm also thankful that I can still rove after 63 years on the air. If my score
holds up, this will mean I've won at least an ARRL division-leader certificate
in a VHF contest in seven different decades: the 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, 1990s,
2000s, 2010s and now the 2020s. It's been quite an adventure.
Now--more than ever before--I'm thankful for the friends who have helped me put
together rover stations at a time when I can barely walk. Thanks especially to
N6GP, W6IT and W6TAI for doing the heavy lifting to pack stations at home before
the contest. Tim and Greg did the real work to load three extra 11-band
stations into my F150 to take to fellow rovers I was meeting in Kettleman City
on Sunday morning. Greg also picked up a station for his own use during the
Southern California portion of my rove on Saturday. Carrie roved in the minivan
that normally tows a tower trailer, but with everything in or on the minivan
itself. I'm also grateful to N6HC for operating the 10-band station at my
hilltop house and following us as we roved. Arnie is best known for his HF
DXpeditions to islands on the most-wanted list, but he's right at home working
DX on the VHF, UHF and microwave bands.
After roving in four Los Angeles grid squares Saturday, I drove north and met
K6MI, NI6G and WA6IPZ Sunday morning. I'm thankful for their help in putting
everything together so we could rove through six San Joaquin Valley grid
squares, always followed by W6YEP at the W6TV station on Bear Mountain near
Fresno. We worked W6TV on 11 bands from all six grid squares--with one
exception of our own choosing. At the very end of the contest, Pat and I needed
to set up our 24 GHz stations on tripods one more time. We'd already worked on
11 bands (through 24 GHz) five times on paths of about 90 miles. Now we had
just worked on 10 bands from a sixth grid square, DM07. But it was dark and
cold (by our standards). Here were two very tired septuagenarians contemplating
hauling our tripods outside one more time to work on 24 GHz on a path that we've
spanned in many previous contests. We both knew we would have good scores with
or without one more 24 GHz QSO. "Do you really want to do this?" I
asked on our 222 MHz liaison frequency. "Not really," Pat said. So
we skipped a slam-dunk DM07-DM06 QSO on 24 GHz. I guess we're not as young and
hungry as we once were.
After the contest ended at 8 p.m. local time, John, Erik and Allen did all the
heavy lifting to re-load three microwave stations into my truck. Then we said
goodbye and drove away after a long day and weekend. Before I started the 4-5
hour drive back home, I stopped to unwind and eat at a Fresno In-N-Out Burger
location. In-N-Out is a California institution and this place was jammed with
young people, as usual. As I sat there alone, I listened to young men 60 years
my junior trying to score with young women who were also 60 years my junior.
Hmmm... Everything has changed, and yet nothing has changed. I was happy with
my contest score and a little amused that "it's still the same old story, a
fight for love and glory, a case of do or die... as time goes by."
-N6NB
Posted using 3830 Score Submittal Forms at: http://www.3830scores.com/
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